Rutgers held its men’s hoops media day Tuesday afternoon, and here are some tidbits I gathered from Coach Fred Hill’s press conference and interviews with some of the players (there is also some Seton Hall news at the bottom):

—Center Byron Joynes, who is recovering from a broken foot, should be practicing by Nov. 1.

—Point guard Courtney Nelson has been slowed by a groin strain, though he is practicing. Hill deflected questions about how Nelson and Anthony Farmer would be used at the point, saying he needed see Nelson “under fire” (scrimmages, etc.) before figuring that out.

—Hill declined to set any concrete goals (at least publicly) and said he hopes the fans will be patient and notice things like better cohesiveness on the floor, increased intensity, etc.

—Oft-injured Adrian Hill said he is feeling “like a young man” and Hill called him “the great unknown” factor.

—The general feeling among the players was that practices have been more intense, Hill hasn’t been shy about getting in peoples’ faces, and that Rutgers will play a more aggressive style of basketball this year.

—Hill held an open “skills practice” recently, in which he invited New Jersey high school coaches to attend, and about 100 did.

My early impression is that Rutgers will be about the same as they were last year: Good some nights, not so good on others, overall about .500. In the post-Douby era, it will take a while to figure out where the scoring is coming from. There is talent on the roster but it will take a year or so to come together.

Billmeier was captain last year and Gaines (who has a little bit of Marcus Toney-El’s locker-room presence) will be the undisputed leader of this year’s team.

The big surprise is Laing, a junior who has been rather soft-spoken in the past. My guess is that Laing is on the verge of breaking out, both as a player and a leader. He never seemed to fit into Louis Orr’s system, but maybe the new regime will unleash his strengths. One thing is certain: He is the nicest kid and a hard worker, so he’ll set a good example. All in all, a good choice for the captainship.

Seton Hall has no media day (and no SID yet!) but I will kick off my coverage in Friday’s Gannett NJ papers with a feature on John Garcia. I’ll be interviewing Big John at Walsh Gym on Thursday. Stay tuned.